Don Blackburn (1979-81; 42-63-35)Hired originally to replace Jack Kelley, the first coach and general manager of the New England Whalers, in 1975, Blackburn was the first coach of the Hartford Whalers when the team joined the NHL for the 1979-80 season. A moderate success in their first year at 27-34-19, the Whalers qualified for the playoffs, losing in the first round to Detroit. Blackburn's coaching career ended midway through the 1980-81 season when, at 15-29-16, he was replaced by former player Larry Pleau.

Larry Kish (1982-83; 12-32-5)A one-time player at Providence and coach of various New England-based minor league teams, Kish led the AHL's Binghamton Whalers to the Calder Cup Finals in 1981-82 and was named the league's coach of the year, leading to his hiring by the parent club on June 2, 1982. His stay didn't last long: A mediocre record three-quarters of the way through the season led to Kish's dismissal. He later held various positions in other minor leagues, including being accused of paying players off the books while the general manager of the Tallahassee Tiger Sharks in 1998-99.

John Cunniff (1983; 3-9-1)Hired as interim head coach for the final 13 games of the 1983 season, Cunniff was a two-time all-American at Boston College and the first player to twice be named the MVP of the Beanpot, and was a member of the New England Whalers team that won the first WHA championship in 1973. Cunniff would serve as New Jersey's head coach from 1989-91, part of a 13-year front office career with the Devils, and was an assistant for the U.S. Olympic hockey teams in 1994, 1998 and 2002. Cunniff died of cancer in May 2002.

Larry Pleau (1981-82, 1983, 1988-89; 81-117-26)A Lynn, Mass. native who played for Team USA in the 1968 Winter Olympics, Pleau was the first player to sign a contract to play for the Whalers and did so from 1972-79 before his retirement. He was named the fourth head coach in team history on Feb. 20, 1981, replacing Blackburn, and later had stints as the coach of the AHL'S Binghamton Whalers, director of hockey operations and assistant general manager. As coach, Pleau led the Whalers to the playoffs in 1987-88 and 1988-89, losing each time in the Adams Division semifinals. Following his time with the Whalers, Pleau worked in a variety of roles for the New York Rangers before being named the general manager in St. Louis in 1997  a position he held until his retirement following the 2009-10 season.

Jack Evans (1983-88; 163-174-37)The longest-tenured coach in team history, Evans, hired on Sept. 17, 1983, may have led the Whalers to their greatest successes. They tied or set 57 team records in 1983-84, his first season, to become the most improved team in the NHL, and was on the bench when the Whalers lost to Montreal in seven games in the Adams Division finals in 1985-86  their longest playoff run. A former defenseman who won the 1961 Stanley Cup with Chicago, Evans, whose 163 victories would be the most of any coach was fired in Feb. 1988, ending his coaching career. He died in Nov. 1996 of prostate cancer.

Rick Ley (1989-91; 69-71-20)A former captain and assistant throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Ley, whose No. 2 still hangs in the rafters at the XL Center, returned to the team on Dec. 12, 1989 and would eventually finish with a .494 winning percentage  the best of any head coach in Whalers history. Ley was fired following a second consecutive loss to Boston in the Adams Division semifinals in 1991, though he would continue his coaching career as an assistant and head coach with Vancouver from 1991-98 and Toronto from 1998-2006.

Jim Roberts (1991-92; 26-41-13)The head coach of the AHL's Calder Cup champion Springfield Indians from 1989-91, Roberts was hired on June 7, 1991 to replace Ley. His year in Hartford marked the last time the Whalers would qualify for the postseason, ending a streak of seven consecutive seasons in the playoffs with an Adams Division semifinal loss to Montreal in seven games. Following two years coaching Worcester in the AHL, Roberts would return to the NHL as an assistant with St. Louis from 1996-2002 before retiring.

Paul Holmgren (1992-93, 1995; 54-93-14)Hired as the Whalers' 10th head coach on June 15, 1992, Holmgren drifted back and forth between that role and that of the general manager, which he held intermittently beginning in late 1993. His time in Hartford was contentious  Holmgren was arrested in March 1994 and charged with driving under the influence in Simsbury, leading to a stay at the Betty Ford Center. Long associated with the Philadelphia Flyers, where he played nine seasons in the late-1970s and early-1980s, Holmgren would return to the organization in 1995 after being fired as Whalers head coach and is currently the team's general manager.

Pierre McGuire (1993-94; 23-37-7)An assistant promoted to replace Holmgren after he was named the team's general manager on Nov. 17, 1993, McGuire's stint in Hartford was his last in the NHL. Holmgren gave McGuire plenty to work with: two trades at the March deadline, as well as the arrests of Holmgren and defenseman Bryan Marchment on driving under the influence charges within eight days, complicated matters for the Whalers. Fired after the season, McGuire was the Montreal Canadiens' English-language radio color commentator from 1997-2002 and is currently a game host and analyst for TSN and NBC.

Paul Maurice (1995-1997; 61-72-19)Maurice was an assistant under Holmgren for one season when, on Nov. 6, 1995, he became the youngest coach in the NHL at 28 following a 5-6-1 start. The Whalers missed the playoffs in each season under Maurice, though he would lead the Carolina Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they lost to Detroit, in 2001-02. Fired midway through the 2003-04 season, when he was the league's longest-tenured coach, Maurice coached Toronto from 2006-08, then returned to the Hurricanes in 2008 and remains their current head coach.